Court awards Indo-Canadian activist $11,360 for unlawful arrest

Toronto, Aug 29 (IANS) A court has awarded an Indo-Canadian activist C$15,000 ($11,360) in damages for being unlawfully arrested by two police officers, a media report said.

Montreal-based activist Jaggi Singh had filed a lawsuit against officers Frederic Mercier and George Lamirande for arresting and detaining him during an International Women’s Day rally in March 2007, CBS News online reported.

“Singh’s rights were violated when he was arrested and detained for five days in March 2007, and that constable Frederic Mercier and constable George Lamirande must pay Singh the sum of 15,000 Canadian Dollars ($11,360) in exemplary damages’,” Quebec Superior Court Judge Micheline Perrault ruled this week.

The officers said in the court that the crowd in the rally was hostile and yelled out insults to them.

The officers also testified that they arrested Singh for breaching his conditions imposed on him during his previous conviction.

According to the conditions, Singh was barred from being “on the scene of an event that is not peaceful”.

Following Singh’s detainment from the crowd, the charges against him were dropped and Singh filed a lawsuit against the two officers.

Singh sought 25,000 Canadian Dollars ($18,900) for five days of illegal detention, 12,000 Canadian Dollars ($9,000) in moral damages and 45,000 Canadian Dollars ($34,000) in exemplary damages, the report said.